Karylle’s broken heart now mended

Author: Isah V. Red
Column: Life & Entertainment

Those who think that Karylle is still nursing a broken heart after the much-publicized breakup with Dingdong Dantes should think otherwise. The singer/actress, who with all poise and grace faced the storm, came out whole and unscathed. First, she decided to join her mom Zsa Zsa at ABS-CBN. She also emerged looking refreshed after testing her acting and singing chops in the restaging of West Side Story where she teamed up for the first time with Christian Bautista. Now, she is continually sharpening her acting ability playing Helen in ABS-CBN’s Maruja. “The transfer from one network to another was surprisingly easy because I’ve known some of the people at ABS-CBN,” Karylle says.

The new environment offered Karylle a chance to take another look at her career, allowing her to take new challenges that would make her grow as a performer. Thanks to her dedicated management team led by actors Carlo Orosa and Audie Gemora. Apart from Maruja, Karylle has also inked another deal to star in a new show, details of which she refuses to say. She is also looking forward to her first European gig with Martin Nievera. The show will give her the chance to touch base with Filipino fans in London. Being busy is not without the attendant sacrifice.

On a typical working day, Karylle has to haul herself out of bed as early as 5 a.m. To get ready for taping, she takes a quick breakfast and catnaps in the car on her way to the location. The taping takes pretty much the rest of her day, which sometimes lasts until the wee hours. On days when her schedule allows, Karylle indulges in her favorite activities—one of which is doing charity work.

“My childhood was not a fairytale one, so I know how it feels to be young and face difficulties. Whenever I have the opportunity to share my time and talent to children suffering from poverty or health problems, I do my share to raise funds for them,” informs the star.

In fact, Karylle has just finished a concert with some of her industry friends to raise money for poor children suffering from cancer.

Indulging in a spa

To recharge and keep her body in shape, Karylle attends Pilates classes and swims. She also pampers herself by going to Blue Water Day Spa and gets a massage or a facial. “I felt so happy when the owners of Blue Water Day Spa asked me to be one of their endorsers this year because I really go to the place even before. In fact, whenever I walked in and see the photos of their endorsers on the wall, I used to ask myself, ‘Kailan kaya ako magiging endorser ng Blue Water Day Spa?’ I felt honored when they asked me to endorse the spa,” she reveals. Karylle goes to the Blue Water Day Spa for her favorite treatments like the Brazilian Crystal Massage and the Relaxation Massage. “I also recently tried the Herbal Pack Treatment from Thailand. It is a combination of shiatsu and Swedish massage with herbal packs. I enjoyed it so much because it soothes and relaxes tense and overworked muscles,” she says.

The boy from Brazil

The decision to sign a deal with Blue Water Day Spa brings Karylle and Japanese-Brazilian model with a dream to be an actor Akihiro Sato.

The two are the newest endorsers of the spa.

Akihiro stands a little over six feet tall, a dashing figure on the fashion runways here and abroad, a favorite face for print ad layouts and billboards.

Many of us have seen his face but never asked who he was until he appeared in more high-profile television commercials like Nescafé and Close-Up.

“My grandfather was from Japan. He went to Brazil after World War II when Japan’s economy became very bad after the war. So he tried starting over again in a new land and fell in love with Brazil. My father was born in Sao Paolo and married a Brazilian—that is the long story why I look like a Filipino,” Akihiro relates with a smile. “Becoming a model was not even a remote dream,” says the gorgeous Akihiro who was studying Physical Therapy in the university before the modeling bug bit him. “I was interested in becoming a very good physical therapist because of my older brother. He was born with paralysis and that inspired me to study about helping people regain their body’s movement,” he says. “But one day, while I was walking in the street, an agent asked for my profile and told me I could become a model. That changed my life.” Akihiro’s baptism of fire on the runway came in the form of the Sao Paolo Fashion Week where he had to put on a lot of swimwear—Sao Paolo being a resort town. That prompted the once bulky teen to adopt a rigorous training workout and a disciplined diet. “I lost at least 20 pounds because I realized that to become a good model, one has to maintain a well-toned physique. So now I go to the gym almost every day for two hours to do my workout,” Akihiro informs. The once rice-and-beans fanatic also had to change his eating habits. “It was difficult because I loved to eat rice, beans, barbecue, chocolate… you name it!” he says amused. Likewise, a big part of Akihiro’s physical regimen is to go to the spa regularly to keep his body toned and his skin in perfect condition. “That’s why I love going to Blue Water Day Spa. They introduce new treatments very often, which allow me to sample new techniques and therapies. Also, the staff is very courteous, hospitable and well-trained—they’re very professional,” Akihiro discloses. Recently, the ramp hunk has become addicted to the Traditional Filipino Massage—a serious deep tissue massage with ventuza to physically break down muscle stress, relieve pain and restore body movement. “It helps me because being a model, I have to be able to move perfectly on the runway or in front of the camera. Modeling can be stressful to the body and this massage really relaxes me,” he says. To keep his skin camera-ready, Akihiro also goes through the FPL Laser Hair removal, a non-invasive procedure that is faster and gentler on the skin.

4 new treatments

Karylle and Akihiro’s entry into the Blue Water Spa family forms part of the spa’s continuing development program. A big component of this is introducing new treatments that involve groundbreaking technology and procedures. Blue Water Day Spa is introducing four innovative services that have been meticulously developed in reputable spa centers in Europe and America. The Athlete’s Massage has been designed for sports-minded people to prepare their body for optimal performance, prevent injuries and function well during training. This involves a 10-minute application of hot moist packs for healing of pain and improving mobility.

The Tibetan Meridian Fire Therapy is a means of getting rid of fat deposits by fire and slimming massage techniques. It is guaranteed to take away as much as ½ to 1 inch from the body measurement after treatment. The Comfort Zone Monticelli Mud Treatment has been developed in Italy using the specially formulated Monticelli Mud Wrap. It detoxifies and softens skin while removing keratinized skin cells from the body. The Biovegetal Enzyme Skin Peeling evolved from the latest technological breakthroughs in skin care in Switzerland. Using organic products, it restores the skin’s softness, smoothness and suppleness without the harsh effects of a chemical peel.

Spa theater

This year, to put a new twist to the practice of wellness and beauty, Blue Water Spa has introduced the Spa Theater. Located in a sprawling complex on Ortigas Avenue, the Spa Theater puts all the elements of a modern Cineplex—such as state-of-the-art screen and projector system, the latest speaker technology and acoustically designed walls—for superb movie viewing. But in lieu of theater seats, this massage center has installations of modern spa chairs to allow viewers to fully relax while watching their favorite movie. Here, the weary can recharge by indulging in blue Water Spa’s relaxing foot spa, or a foot massage. “This unique concept is a Blue Water Day Spa exclusive,” says Blue Water Day Spa’s young vice president Francis Ryan Simisim. “The Spa Theater allows total relaxation because clients can get our signature foot spa treatments and foot massage while being entertained visually with our wide screen movie presentations.” He adds, “This is an essential part of Blue Water Day Spa’s unrelenting effort to make going to a spa a totally enjoyable experience.” The Spa theater is of course available for bookings for private parties and corporate functions—indeed a unique way to bond with family members, friends and business colleagues.

Aljur unfazed by sexual harassment charges

Nineteen-year-old Kapuso star Aljur Abrenica is getting a dose of showbiz intrigues even before he becomes really big.

A promodizer (that’s the marketing term used by consumer companies these days, girls normally are asked to wear skimpy outfits) the actor met in the resort town of Puerto Galera had filed charges of “acts of lasciviousness” against him, and the actor will be subjected to an investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation.

Yet, instead of cowering to the 15-year-old girl (Bantay Banta and the Department of Social Welfare and Development should look into why this minor has got herself in a job that has her dealing with mostly men target consumers of a product), the Abrenicas have consulted a lawyer on how to deal with this case.

Lawyer June Ambrosio, the feisty lawyer that helped Romy Jalosjos get a conviction for raping a minor, is helping the family who seems bewildered why someone has singled out Aljur in this case.

We got word around the circle that the girl is being managed by Richard Hiñola, a gay man who also occasionally contributes gossip to tabloids and fanzines. He could simply be riding on the current rage involving Hayden Kho and Katrina Halili to attract attention for his ward who someone whispered to us is aching to be in show business.

We heard Aljur talks about the Puerto Galera encounter, and I am sure, there was no malice intended in the encounter. In fact, he was with the popular duo Moymoy Palaboy, and singer Mocha who are willing to stand for the actor.

Kapuso’s new shows

Last Monday, GMA-7 piloted two new shows—one in the afternoon and the other on the primetime block.

Heart Evangelista and JC de Vera are the new stars of the network’s Dramarama sa Hapon with the Sinenovela presentation of Ngayon at Kailanman.

This is the first time Heart is paired with rising young matinee idol JC and it seems they have built up good chemistry together. According to the both of them, they were classmates at one time at Colegio San Agustin in Dasmariñas Village in Makati.

The pair is reprising the characters played in the movie (of the same title) by Richard Gomez and Sharon Cuneta.

Meanwhile, on the slot vacated by All About Eve is Adik Sa ’Yo, which director Joel Lamangan describes as a rom-com (or romantic comedy) starring Dennis Trillo, Marvin Agustin, Jolina Magdangal, and Jennica Garcia.

Dennis is being paired with ingénue Jennica and this is getting a lot of eyebrows raised, not because Dennis isn’t a capable actor but whether their screen teamup has the chemistry that would spur the ratings of the show to atmospheric high. But I am sure Jennica’s casting is not based on her current status as a starlet but on the friendship between director (Joel Lamangan) and talent manager (Manny Valera?).

GMA management should start praying hard asking the Lord up above to protect Adik Sa’Yo from going below the deck.

Best primetime performers

If you’ve been watching TV at night and got hooked on Tayong Dalawa, I can understand why. Apart from the fact that the series offers something less familiar to our eyes (although the dialog is terribly cliché ridden), we are amused at how Spanky Manikan and Anita Linda are portraying too old Chinese foggies in the Philippines.

Spanky and Anita know no Chinese at all, they are simply acting their character as probably they would have heard many Chinese Filipinos (of their age) speak Tagalog. Riotous, really, when they are in a scene together and speaking in halting Tagalog. Honestly, these two characters have become my favorite and I get angry when the series goes on air and not one scene is devoted to them.

I must say, as well, that Jake Cuenca seems to be doing a great job as a man who is struggling to make peace with the family he never knew as her grandmother sold her to another family the day he was born. Gerald Anderson is watchable, while Kim Chiu is most of the time irritates us with her kawawa look and the smirk when she starts opening her mouth. The girl must learn to speak without moving too many muscles around her mouth. And how many cubic centimeters of false tears has she used? Goodness gracious, there hasn’t been a scene where she isn’t crying or on the verge of!

Illogical behavior

A viewer of Only You asks, “If you were a girl with a good-looking best friend like Diether Ocampo, wouldn’t you fall for him, even if there’s someone as good looking as Sam Milby?”

There’s logic in the question because we notice how illogical the emotional response of Jillian (Angel Locsin) to the endearments of Jonathan (Diether Ocampo).

Some women who have had a one-night stand and got pregnant are able to move on without too much pain in their hearts. But it seems Jillian easily fell for the charms of TJ (Sam Milby) after a night of making love.

In this drama series, we admire Sam’s efforts to speak Tagalog even if the American twang is very obvious, and we see Diether in another light (as a romantic hero). But it is Angel that has gone through a very dramatic transformation. Given the less-than-admirable writing, she is able to deliver the character as I believe should be. I should congratulate this girl when I see her.

Source: Manila Standard Today

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